May 22, 2013: Dr. Henning SchroederAappointed CGS/NSF Dean-in-Residence

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to share with you the news that Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Education Henning Schroeder has been offered a prestigious one-year appointment as Council of Graduate Schools (CGS)/National Science Foundation (NSF) Dean-in-Residence.

Starting September 1, 2013, and continuing until September 1, 2014, Vice Provost Schroeder will spend approximately 20 percent of his time at the CGS office in Washington D.C. and the remaining 80 percent of his time at NSF headquarters in Arlington, VA.

In this role of dean-in-residence, Vice Provost Schroeder will help facilitate greater collaboration between the NSF and graduate education stakeholders. This appointment is a unique opportunity for him to bring to the NSF insights, perspectives, and the practical experience he has gained as a senior administrator at the University. In turn, he will share with us and with the graduate dean community, as well as the broader science and engineering community, national perspectives on issues related to graduate education, such as graduate student financing, tuition and budget models, graduate education in an international context, and assessing the value of a degree. His work as dean-in-residence will benefit both the University of Minnesota and national efforts on graduate education. (Read the CGS press release for more information about Vice Provost Schroeder's appointment.)

I want to assure you, too, that while Vice Provost Schroeder is away from his position, the University will continue to pursue our plans to assess the recent reorganization of the Graduate School, and we will continue to work aggressively to enhance our efforts in graduate education.

To ensure continued, energetic leadership in this area, I have appointed Professor Sally Gregory Kohlstedt to serve as acting vice provost and dean of graduate education. Professor Kohlstedt is the outgoing chair of the Faculty Consultative Committee and the director of the College of Science and Engineering's Program in the History of Science and Technology. She is a distinguished scholar whose work has been supported by fellowships from the Smithsonian Institution, the Fulbright Foundation, and the Woodrow Wilson Center, as well as by NSF and other research grants. She has taught at a number of institutions, including Cornell, the University of Melbourne, the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, and the University of Auckland, and she has an impressive record of successfully mentoring graduate students. She is a past president of the History of Science Society and she has served on the board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

She will begin her formal appointment September 1, 2013, and she has also agreed to work during the summer with the Office of Graduate Education and with the special committee on graduate education being jointly appointed by the Office of the Provost and the Faculty Consultative Committee.

Please join me in congratulating Vice Provost Schroeder on this honor and in thanking Professor Kohlstedt for agreeing to serve as Acting Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Education.

Sincerely,

Karen Hanson,
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

email sent May 22, 2013 to the Administrative Email Lists (AEL); Graduate School faculty and staff; and systemwide faculty with graduate education responsibilities.